Behind Lock and Key
by The Other Hatter
Summary: A young thief (OC) gets herself mixed up in the Turks' business. What happens next? [On hold]
1. Chapter 1

_Hi all! This is my first story, so I would really appreciate reviews/feedback! I'm currently updating things so the chapters will flow better and so that I can work in more from Reno's POV so it could be a while until I upload an entirely new chapter.  
_

_**Disclaimer: **I, of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters in it. =)  
_

_And now..enjoy!_

* * *

Astrid's eyes opened wide, and she froze, a tight, fake smile on her face as the man whose pocket she had just attempted to pick turned tall, dark looking man's mouth formed a line as he looked her up and down. He frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. She felt her face growing hot, but she kept her features calm. After a few seconds, the man turned around and began walking again, but his movements were slightly more aware than before.

The moment he was far enough away that she was sure he couldn't hear her, Astrid let out her breath. She had only been caught stealing a very small number of times, but those times had been enough to scare her into being extra careful.

Still, that had been a man had obviously been wealthier than anybody she had seen around here in a long time, and she was sorry she hadn't been able to take anything from him. He was wearing the kind of clothes, a suit, that said he had money—and lots of it.

Astrid hunched her shoulders and bent her head low, once more following the man, but this time being even more cautious. She was determined to get something from that man. It had been over a week since she'd had anything more to eat than stale bread and moldy cheese, and besides, the fruit vender was beginning to grow weary of her constantly hanging around his stall.

Astrid softened her footsteps, making sure to keep a good couple of meters of distance between them. The man turned left, down a dark alley, leading into an even worse part of the slums, if that was at all possible. He was awfully confident for someone so rich.

He strode up to a weathered building, scrutinized it for a minute or two, and then tugged open the door and went in.

Astrid cursed silently. The man just had to choose _that _bar. Last time she'd gone in there, she'd gotten thrown out for causing a fight over something she'd stolen. Astrid hesitated for a moment, before opening the bar's door as softly as she could and slipping in soundlessly. The minute she was in the door, she moved to the side, standing in the shadows, and searched the room for the man. She found him standing at the counter and talking to a lanky red-head guzzling alcohol.

"I thought I might find you here. Shirking your work down here in the slums again? Sooner or later someone's going to realize this is where you sneak off to when you're sick of paperwork," the dark man said softly, gripping the red-head's shoulder.

"Well they haven't found me yet," drawled the red-head, "And when they do, I'll just move on to a new bar down here. A quieter one."

"That's not the point, Reno."

"Then what is the point? It's not like I'm skipping an actual job or anything," whined the red-head, turning to face the other man. "Seriously yo, you need to relax." he clapped the darker man on the shoulder. The man frowned, glanced at the counter where a slew of empty glasses sat, and gripped his friend's arm.

"Come on. You've had enough to drink. You're going to have a nice hangover tomorrow, and if you skip one more time, you might be off the next job. Or so rumor has it." He yanked the lanky redhead up and gave him a shove toward the door, despite his protests. The dark man pushed the countless glasses aside and slapped some bills down on the counter before following his friend out the door.

From next to the door, a shape melted out of the darkness and stole up to the counter. The conversation had meant nothing to Astrid, it was irrelevant. It had given her the opportunity she needed. Before anyone working at the bar had a chance to collect the money, Astrid snatched it up, stuffing it into her pocket. Then she darted out the door, silently praying that no one would stop her before she could make it back out into the streets.

Back in the streets of the Sector 7 slums, Astrid breathed in deeply. It felt good to be back in familiar territory. She crept back through the streets and towards the ruined building where she lived with a few other street kids. Astrid rounded the last corner before home, letting her feet lead her down the well-worn streets.

She stopped.

There, a little further on, was the tall dark man from before. She couldn't see the redhead, he was probably somewhere up ahead. Astrid chewed on her bottom lip and tugged her left earlobe. This might be her last chance to steal a few more Gil off him before he left the slums for good, and she was not about to pass it up.

She glanced around quickly, then crept toward the man with smooth, catlike movements. As she neared him, she stretched out a hand toward his pocket, slowly, quietly.

SMACK!

Something hit Astrid hard on the back of her head. Black spots floated in front of her eyes and suddenly even the dim streetlights hurt to look at. Fog began creeping in around the edges of Astrid's vision, and she felt herself floating upward, leaving her body somewhere on the streets far below.

* * *

Reno grinned and swung the ER over his left shoulder.

"And you said I was drunk," he said smugly, his grin broadening at the look on his partner's face. Rude sighed and rubbed his forehead. It had been a long day—looking for Reno was no easy task.

"Lighten up, yo," Reno said cheerfully, clapping him on the back. "I just saved you several hundred gil." Rude's expression didn't change. Instead he stared at the body of the girl on the ground.

As if reading his mind, Reno said, "Just leave her there. She'll get up eventually, yo." He turned to go, but hesitated when he realized Rude was still staring at the street urchin on the ground. In a few quick strides, he was next to the kid. He lifted her up. She was startlingly light. Reno took a better look at her, and realized just how thin she was.

The girl had a small, bony frame and a gaunt face. Dark, matted reddish brown hair was tangled around her face. The edges were jagged, as though she had cut them roughly with a blunt knife. She had on a huge green army coat with holes in it over a worn t-shirt and muddy brown shorts. Everything she was wearing was caked in dirt.

Reno moved her to the side of the alley and propped her against the wall of a brick building. As he set her down, something fell out of her pocket. Curiously, he leaned over and picked it up. It was a folded paper. There were scribbles all over it, arrows flying around the page, and very careful instructions on how to piece something together. He studied it carefully. After a minute, he looked up at Rude, his grin much more sinister.

"Seems like I saved you more than a few gil," he drawled. He handed Rude the paper, and picked up the thief again.

"Instructions for making bombs...and where to place them," Rude commented, frowning. He looked questioningly at Reno, who shrugged and started walking again.

"Who knows, yo," he said. "But we'd better take her with us anyway." Rude nodded and pocketed the paper, following Reno out through the slums and back toward the company building.


	2. Chapter 2

Astrid's eyes squinted open in the glare of the overly bright lights reflecting off the whitewashed walls of wherever she was sitting. Her head swam. Through the narrow slits of vision that she had, she could see someone standing in front of her. They seemed to be checking whether she was awake or not.

"Ah. You've come to, finally," the figure said. Their voice was muffled, but it was becoming a little clearer, and now she could see that whoever it was looked important. Just like the other two men she had seen earlier today, they were wearing some kind of suit. Hum. Astrid closed her eyes again. If she could just pretend to be asleep...

Whoever the figure was, they pulled her upright. Sharply.

"Owwww! What was that for?" yelled Astrid, her eyes finally behaving themselves and opening up properly. Her head throbbed, but it didn't feel quite so murky as it had before. Her eyes sharpened, and it was now clear that the figure from before was a tall man with dark hair. He had a sharp, pointy face and a stern expression. She glared at him, and he stared back at her with a blank, stony face.

"We have some questions we need you to answer," Sharp-face said flatly. Astrid glared at him and folded her arms across her chest.

"Who's askin' 'em?" She didn't feel like answering questions for someone who had dragged her to a bare, empty, _bright_ building she had never seen before and had then made her head feel as though someone was hitting it with a sledgehammer.

"Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department." Astrid felt her stomach drop. ShinRa members. She thought quickly, trying to figure out when she had done anything that could be bad for the company. An image of the man she had tailed earlier popped into her head. Had he been a ShinRa member?

The man held up a folded piece of paper. Astrid vaguely recognized it as something she had stolen out of somebody's pocket earlier that day. It had meant nothing to her, but she'd kept it anyway. You never knew what you might be able to sell.

"These sketches..." Sharp-face started. "Did you draw these?"

"No," Astrid said, her nervousness subsiding. If _that_ was what he was planning to ask her about, he was out of luck.

"Who did?"

Astrid shrugged. The man's frown deepened. He tried a different question. "What were these given to you for?"

Astrid laughed roughly."_Given_ to me?" she said unpleasantly. "I can't 'member th' last time somebody gave me somthin'." The man didn't look surprised.

"You stole them?" It wasn't really a question. Again, Astrid shrugged.

"I'm a thief. I steal. Gotta eat somehow," she said. The man studied her face for a moment or two, clearly trying to gauge whether she had been told to say this or whether she was telling the truth. Finally he said, "Do you remember who you stole these from?" Astrid thought for a moment.

"It was a man. He was...tough lookin'. I dunno much else, I only saw the back of 'im." She was tugging on her left ear again, a nervous habit. The man was looking at her skeptically.

"Are you saying someone left something this important in his back pocket, waiting to be stolen?" he asked. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Wasn' in his back pocket. An' he kept pullin' it out and puttin' it back again, like he was checkin' it was still there. I just figured it was somethin' _worth_ more an' stole it in between his fidgetin'," she replied.

"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?" the man asked. Astrid paused, then nodded. Silence filled the room. Astrid shifted uncomfortably. Eventually, Sharp-face spoke.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a moment." He walked to the door, opened it, and left.

A young looking SOLDIER slipped into the room in his place. He looked timid, almost as though he was interrupting something by being there. He stood by the door, clearly posted there to make sure she didn't try to do anything...unconventional. Or steal anything.

Astrid crossed her legs. She folded her arms. She unfolded them and tugged on her ear. Just sitting here, waiting, was making her anxious and restless. After years of being free to do anything she wanted, go anywhere she wanted, and being left completely alone by most adults, those who had caught her stealing from them aside, just sitting here being guarded was torture.

She looked around the room, trying to focus her attention on something other than getting out. There wasn't much to look at. The room was bare, bright, too white, and smelled of cleaning products and medicine. It seemed to be some kind of clinic room. From where she was propped up, on one of three simple white beds against the back wall, she could see a sink and a medicine cabinet. A fake, plastic plant was sitting next to the bed on the far right. Other than that, the room was empty.

The door clicked open again, and Sharp-face stood in the room again. Astrid noticed that the SOLDIER remained in the room, staring stiffly ahead.

"I've talked to...a superior," Sharp-face began, "You may not know as much as we would have liked, but it's a start. We need you to find this man you stole the paper from. If you can, find out who he is."

"An' why'm I gonna do this for ya?" Astrid asked. There was nothing to make her want to do this. She crossed her arms, trying to look tough, secretly hoping she wasn't about to get killed by the SOLDIER still standing by the door. Sharp-face's features hardened, but he didn't look surprised.

"You'll be paid," he said flatly but surely. "Oh...you can have these back now." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone...and her keychain of tools. He handed both to her.

"There's a number programmed into the phone. Call it when you find something out. You can leave now. You'll be escorted out, of course. Call me on the number in that phone if you find out who that man is." Without waiting for a response from Astrid, he turned and left the room once again. Astrid remained sitting on the bed, feeling a mixture of outrage at having her "keys" taken and excitement at the prospect of earning money. Earning it by doing something she knew about, no less.

The SOLDIER by the door came over to the bed. He gave her an apologetic look.

"I'll escort you out. Sorry, but I'll have to blindfold you. You're not allowed to see where we're going." Astrid rolled her eyes and gave him a distasteful look, but she was ready to go. She let him tie something over her eyes and lead her away through the building, finally getting away from the suffocating scent of cleaners and rubber gloves.


	3. Chapter 3

Rude knocked on the door to Astrid's room. "Get up, yo!" yelled Reno, helping his partner out. Inside the room, Astrid opened her eyes. She sighed. She just wasn't quite ready to get up yet...mmh, no just a few more minutes of sleep. The door burst open. Reno strolled in, tie loose and shirt untucked, as usual. Rude stood in the doorway, awkwardly. He looked away. Astrid grumbled and opened her eyes a crack.

"I'm up," she mumbled, rolling over and hugging the blanket to herself. Reno pushed her off the bed. Astrid hit the floor. _Hard._

"Ouch!" she yelled, sitting up. She glared furiously at Reno, and rubbed her neck.

"We've got work to do, yo!" Reno said impatiently. Astrid got to her feet slowly.

"It's barely even morning yet," she grumbled, tossing her blanket back onto her bed.

"It's 2 in the afternoon, yo," Reno said. "You sleep like a log." He grinned. Astrid glared back. She was _sure _that he had only just gotten up himself, which just made it worse. _Think of the money, thin of the money_, she told herself, gritting her teeth. Reno was already slouching out of the room. Astrid caught up to him, still looking daggers at his retreating back. Rude coughed politely, and followed his partner down the hall.

Once out of the inn, Astrid took a look around the town that she had only briefly seen the night before. It seemed much smaller with the sun lighting up it's square properly. There were small houses and shops lining the square, but it was clear that the ring of buildings didn't extend very far back. A few roads led off in various directions—one leading out of the village to the arch they had just passed under yesterday, another winding behind one of the larger buildings, and another continuing out past the village and up into the mountains.

"We should split up," Rude commented flatly. Reno immediately went ambling off somewhere. Astrid, however, had no idea what was going on, even if these two seemed to have some weird psychic powers.

"Huh?" she asked. Rude turned to her and sighed. His face stayed neutral, but she guessed that he wasn't used to having to explain every detail to people. Not when he could give the barest information and Reno would still know what he was saying.

"Try to find out what kind of place we might be looking for here," he said. "But don't let anyone know what you're doing." Then very quickly, as if to escape before Astrid could ask anymore questions, he turned and walked into the nearest building.

"Huh," Astrid pouted. She'd had enough of these clowns. Not only would the two of them stick out like sore thumbs in those suits, but she couldn't pick them for the kind of people who'd be good at getting information without being noticed. She, on the other hand, could disappear whenever she wanted. And she knew all about where people would guard their most valuable secrets...

She glanced around the square. Various people were wandering about, but it was mostly pretty empty. Her eye fell on the street leading back past the ring of buildings. Curiously, she pushed her shoulders back and made her way over to it. It wasn't a long sort of street, in fact, it was more of an alley. It ended in the backdoor of what was probably somebody's house. Astrid stretched out a skinny arm and tried the door. It didn't move. But she was used to that. She tapped softly on it near the handle, and then tried again. Still nothing. Bending down a little, so that she was level with the door's handle, she looked at the keyhole. It wasn't a complex keyhole—an older style, but nothing she hadn't seen before. She tugged on the chain around her neck, and selected a skinny metal rod. She tried it in the keyhole. _Click!_ Astrid smiled to herself, and tucked her necklace back into her shirt. Then she opened the door quietly, trying not to let it creak.

She was in a small, poorly lit kitchen. Dirty dishes cluttered the counter-tops. A table with grimy cooking utensils and a loaf of bread on it sat in the middle of the room. Astrid made her way over to the table and tore a chunk off the loaf of bread. Old habit. Suddenly, she heard voices. Panicked, she looked around the room for somewhere to hide. Her eye fell on a cupboard underneath the sink. Astrid squeezed herself into it, hiding among soaps and dishtowels. No sooner had she closed the door of the cupboard, than a door opened and the voices drifted into the room.

"...I _told_ you! Supplying them is one thing, going there and doing it ourselves is entirely different!" The speaker was a young man, probably in his twenties.

"But this is our chance! We have everything arranged. They'll come tonight and smuggle them out. They said they'll have room for some of us too." This voice was much deeper and gravelly. Astrid guessed he was about forty.

"Then let them take someone else. I've had enough. I'm against the organization, but I'm not prepared to storm the building. We're a handful of farmers and shopkeepers. They have an elite group of fighters." The young man was angry now. Astrid pushed the door to the cupboard open a crack, trying to see what was going on. Someone was standing right in front of the cupboard, and all she could see was their legs.

"If we're careful, we can do this. They know of a way to get in."

"How do you know it isn't a hoax? We've never even met these people before—we can't trust them. _I_ don't trust them... I've given you my final answer. _No_."

A pause, and a silence filled the room. Finally, the older man spoke.

"Fine. I see how it is. But if that's how you feel, should you really be involved in this?" Footsteps. Another door opened, then shut again as someone went out. The younger man swore and threw something onto the floor. Whatever it was smashed. Astrid quietly closed the door to the cupboard again. The person still in the room began muttering to themselves and crashing about the room. Astrid sighed. She could be here a while. She reached into her pocket and began chewing on the bread she had filched earlier.

* * *

The sound of a door slamming startled Astrid awake. She jumped, slamming her head into the drain pipe on the roof of the cupboard.

"Owwwww!" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead. She sighed. _Oh. Right. I'm in the cupboard,_ she thought. She listened for a moment, trying to make out if there was anyone left in the room. Deciding there wasn't, Astrid kicked the door to the cupboard open and scooted out. The room was empty. It was darker than earlier, too. She had no idea how long she'd been in the cupboard, but the way her muscles ached told her it had been a while. She stretched, and then slipped back out the door she had entered earlier. Standing on the road again, she could tell that she'd been in the cupboard for a lot longer than she had suspected. It was just starting to get dark again. The alley she was standing in was cast in shadow, and the sky had turned a beautiful deep red. Astrid admired it for a moment, and then set her mind back to what she was supposed to be doing. The conversation. The hideout...right. She made her way back to the inn as fast as she could.

Astrid opened the door to the room Reno and Rude were staying in, not bothering to knock. Reno was lounging on one of the two beds, saying something to Rude, and Rude was standing by the window, looking pensive and nodding to whatever Reno was saying. At Astrid's entrance, they both looked up. An excited expression spread over Reno's face.

"So we know where the hideout is," he said smugly. "You took long enough to get back, where've you been? We almost thought you ran off, yo." Astrid gave him a skeptical look, but she explained what had happened.

"You fell _asleep?_" Reno asked incredulously. Rude was more practical.

"They must have been talking about supplying someone with the bombs...but _who?_" he said, frowning. Reno looked at his partner, suddenly a whole lot more serious. Astrid was surprised he could even _be_ serious.

"Dunno. It's got to be someone in Midgar though. And someone with transportation." Rude nodded.

"But at least we know it's the old geezer that's making the bombs. He won't be too hard to get rid of," Reno grinned. Astrid looked over at him sharply.

"What?"

"Oh yeah. We didn't tell you. There's some old guy that used to make bombs that lives 'round here. He supposedly stopped working a while back, but it turns out he started making them again pretty recently. Guess that's where they've been getting them from," Reno filled her in.

"You said you knew where the hideout was too," Astrid asked.

"Right. Yeah. Know that path leading up to the mountains? There's an abandoned farm out there. It's pretty sure that's it." Suddenly, Rude stood up.

"Astrid. You said these people were planning something _tonight_?" It was the first time Astrid had heard him use her name and she looked at him carefully. His expression hadn't really changed, but his face had hardened somehow.

"Yeah, that's right," she answered. Reno had seen his partner too. He pushed past Astrid, striding into the hallway. He didn't seem laid-back anymore. Rude followed him. Astrid stood there. It was strange seeing the two of them change completely. She could see now that Rude, who she had always thought was serious, had been relaxing a whole lot more than she let on.

"C'mon, yo, let's go. This is where stuff finally gets good," Reno called, already halfway down the hall. Astrid didn't hesitate. She hurried off to catch up with them.


	4. Chapter 4

_Me here. In a sudden burst of inspiration I have uploaded this chapter in record timing._

_Anyway, I apologize for the slow pace with which the story has been progressing up to this point. Things speed up considerably in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

Eerie moonlight lit the path leading up towards the mountains. It had been sometime since they had left the village now, and the path climbed on, higher and higher into the rocks.

"Dammit, we should've found it already!" Reno cursed. It was obvious he was getting agitated. They had been following the path for a good hour or so now, and they were still no closer to finding this abandoned farm the village people had talked about. Rude was still focusing hard on the path, an intent look on his face. Astrid yawned.

"Did it ever occur to either of you that they gave you false information?" She'd had about enough of this pointless stroll as the other two had. In fact, she was pretty sick of the whole journey. They'd asked her to steal something for the company. Well the only thing she'd stolen since leaving home had been half a loaf of bread, and that had been stale anyway. Reno ignored her.

"Huh. Ignore the thief," Astrid muttered. She was beginning to lose track of how many times they had blatantly ignored what she had to say. She fell back from the other two. Even Reno wasn't chatting at the moment, and the air around them grew thick with silence.

Something caught Astrid's eye off to the side of the road. It was...what _was_ it exactly? Something moving...she squinted, trying to spot it more clearly. Whatever it was was about 100 meters to her right. It was following them along the path, walking almost directly in line with Astrid herself. She blinked. If she wasn't mistaken, that was—

A hand reached out from behind and smothered her mouth with a cloth. She opened her eyes wide and tried to yell out, but her mouth wasn't behaving itself. Her vision blurred around the edges and went black.

* * *

"Hey!" Someone snapped their fingers in front of Astrid's still closed eyes. Her head throbbed. Her eyelids felt glued together. Whoever this was was going to have to wait.

_Splash!_ Icy water poured over Astrid's head. Gasping, her eyes opened. She coughed and spluttered. She tried to move a hand up to her face to wipe away the water, but she couldn't lift her arms. They felt wobbly and heavy. One of them throbbed hard, matching the rhythm of her head.

"What was that?!" the thief shouted indignantly. She let out a stream of courses. Someone stepped forward out of the darkness of the musty room.

"Be quiet!" they barked. Astrid looked up. She saw a young frowning face staring down at her. She peered past him, trying to see into the gloom, but she still wasn't herself. Whatever had made her faint was still working on her. She would just have to rest it off. She settled back against whatever she was propped up against.

"Listen," the person began saying. "We don't want to hurt you. But...you'll have to cooperate and answer some questions first. Those people you were with—they're from Shinra, aren't they?" As he spoke Astrid began to recognize his voice. It was the younger speaker from the house she had broken into earlier that afternoon. He sounded far more hostile now, though.

"Well?" the person asked again, a little more impatiently. Astrid sighed. There was nothing to stop her from selling the other two out. After all, it could mean the difference between escape and staying in this room for a while. The person in front of her was glaring into her face. She opened her mouth to tell them, but something stopped her. Instead she said, "How should I know? I followed them out there."

"She's lying. I saw her with them yesterday," someone else from further back in the room called out. Their voice was shaky. The man in front of her grabbed Astrid's wrist hard.

"I meant it, we don't want to hurt you..." he warned.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth," Astrid said quickly. She paused and bit her lip, surely there was some way to buy some time. The man twisted her wrist.

"Ugh! Hold on! I said I'd tell you, I'm getting to it, ok? If it weren't for you knocking me out I'd be able to think a little clearer," Astrid yelled.

Several other figures stepped out of the darkness behind the first man.

"You've had plenty of time," one of them said. The others grumbled their agreement. The man twisted her wrist again, much harder. Pain shot up through Astrid's arm. Her mind raced.

"Those two are..." she began. She looked at the men around her. They had tough, weathered faces. Some of them were quite burly, but even the burly ones looked nervous. Nervous and tense. Most of them didn't look like the kind of people who were really out Her mind worked like clockwork. These people were completely out of their element. She just had to tell them something to get rid of them for a few minutes. She took a deep breath and readied herself.

"Yeah, they're from the company. But if I were you, I wouldn't be standing around asking me about it. They've got reinforcements nearby," she lied gruffly. The man in front of her looked to the others in the circle. Apparently he thought it was even slightly feasible. The moment his back was turned, Astrid took her opportunity. She used her elbows and legs to jump into a standing position. She gave a feeble kick at the man who was crouched in front of her, his back turned. It did nothing more than make him stumble forward a little. She never had been good at self-defense. The room suddenly came alive. Several people made movements to grab her all at once. Astrid ducked out of the way and slid her skinny frame between the people. Someone grabbed her ankle. She kicked them off, and stumbled blindly forward into the darkness, running straight ahead and hoping there was nothing in front of her. People behind her were yelling, asking each other where she was, how she had gotten away. Astrid's heart raced. She still felt woozy from being knocked out, and she stumbled blindly forward into the darkness. Her hands groped at blank, thick air in front of her. Footsteps behind her told her people were coming. She could tell these people at least had a better idea of where they were going than she was.

Astrid slammed against something in front of her, knocking the wind out of her.

"Did you hear that? She's by the door!" a voice called. All at once, the footsteps all turned and began running toward her. Panicked, Astrid ran her hands down the barrier she had hit. Her hands gripped a handle. She wrenched open the door and flung herself through it, running like a bat out of hell. She was back in the open air now. She chanced a glance back over her shoulder and saw about twelve people following her out the door of a tiny shed. That was the last time she looked over her shoulder. She simply ran after that. The people were gaining on her, she could tell. Astrid felt herself slowing down. Her legs still felt wobbly and weak, and her head was pounding with every step she took. She knew she wouldn't be able to outrun them. But maybe she could disappear. Disappearing was what she did best. She looked around wildly. The path she had been traveling on earlier was nowhere in sight. Giant crags loomed to her left. To her right was nothing but open field and moonlight. She headed for the shadows cast by the mountains. As soon as she was there, she threw herself down into the long grass and lay there, waiting for the people to pass by. She was breathing fast and hard. She kept her face planted firmly in the dirt, not daring to look up in case someone see her move. Her pursuers ran by, whisper-shouting to each other furiously, presumably trying to be stealthy. She could hear that they were far closer to her hiding place than she would have liked. Sweat dripped down her face. Astrid concentrated hard on stilling her shaking knees. Just as she was sure she had lost them, someone grabbed her from behind. Astrid screamed. The person clapped a hand over her mouth and spun her around.

"What, are you crazy?! They're gonna hear you, yo!" Reno was glaring down into her face. One strong hand gripped her shoulder tightly. The other was tight over her mouth. His red hair gleamed in the moonlight. Astrid's heart skipped a beat as she realized it was only him. She breathed deeply and tried to relax. Reno took his hand away from her mouth, and supported her other arm instead. Astrid winced and swore quietly.

"Don't. I think they did something to it while I was knocked out," she snapped. She looked down at her arm. There was a deep cut in her shoulder. She pushed the pain out of her mind. It didn't hurt too badly, anyway.

"Where's Rude?"

"He's at the shack, trying to get in. There's some combination lock and it's too sturdy to break down. Guess that's where you come in, yo." Astrid took another deep breath. She felt relaxed now, but her close escape had sharpened her senses and the pain was starting to get worse. She pushed it back again. Her job here was almost done. She and Reno kept to the shadows as they made their way back to the shack that Astrid had recently escaped. Now that she was facing it, it was obvious that it was the old farm. There were remnants of various buildings around the place, and a huge silo stood on one side of the shed. She could barely make out movement near the silo, presumably Rude working at the lock. As they hurried toward it, Reno filled her in on what had happened. Apparently the weapons smugglers had been tipped off that people had been snooping around the village and had expected someone to show up. They'd used a chemical to knock out Astrid and several of them had smuggled her away while others attacked Reno and Rude. They weren't skilled fighters, and Astrid's companions had beat them fairly quickly. They'd followed them to the shack and had been working on fighting a few of them outside while Astrid was inside being questioned. They'd finished them off as Astrid made her escape, and that was where they had met up. Reno finished telling her as they reached the silo. It was a tall, metal structure. The doors looked pretty heavy.

"I got this. It's what I was hired for," Astrid said gruffly, pushing Rude aside. She still wasn't quite herself, and being saved hadn't helped either. She wasn't used to being saved. She tugged on her necklace, and a series of tools lay at her disposal. She began fitting various things into the locks, biting her lip in concentration. Twice she had to start over, but finally she made it. She pushed gently on the door. Reno whooped, and even Rude seemed slightly less stern. The door caught. Reno stopped cheering.

"What's the matter, yo? Open the door!" Astrid glared at him.

"It's stuck, ya moron. There's a chain lock on the other side...how do these people get _in_ anyway?" She slipped her skinny arm between the door and its frame, and fumbled around for the catch. She couldn't reach. She swore.

"Do you have something that cuts metal?" she asked, facing the other two. Rude reached into his pocket and produced a knife. He flipped it around and used the hilt to smash through the rusty chain on the door. Astrid nodded approvingly. She checked back over her shoulder to make sure there weren't anymore smugglers waiting to surprise attack. Then, slowly, Astrid leaned forward and pushed open the door.


End file.
